“I mean, money ruins everything,” Dana White stated in a recent appearance on the Prince St. Pizza podcast, shaking the entire UFC world. According to the CEO, Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov didn’t continue fighting in his promotion because they had already achieved their financial goals. While there might be some truth to White’s comment, many UFC fans didn’t appreciate him narrowing down two of his biggest stars’ reasons for not being active in the UFC. Especially Ariel Helwani, who didn’t mince words while criticizing him. 

In the recent episode of the Ariel Helwani Show, he said, “To say that Khabib retired, because he got rich, I think, is very insensitive. Khabib has told us multiple times why he retired. I don’t think it’s because he got rich. I think his father passed away, and he made a promise to his mother that he would stop fighting as a result.”   

Well, the veteran MMA journalist rightly pointed out that Khabib Nurmagomedov had promised his mother not to fight without his father by his side, which was the real reason behind his retirement. He has also reiterated this fact multiple times in various interviews, leaving no confusion among his fans. Still, when White in the Prince St. Pizza podcast suggested that ‘The Eagle’s growing fame in the Middle East and the millions he earned there played a role in his decision to walk away from the sport, Helwani found it insensitive.

But Helwani didn’t just call out the UFC head honcho for his comments about the Dagestani. He did the same for Khabib’s bitter rival, Conor McGregor, as well.  

Helwani added to his thoughts on his latest show, saying, “Conor McGregor fought multiple times. He fought Khabib, he fought Donald Cerrone, he fought Dustin Poirier twice, he was supposed to fight Michael Chandler. He didn’t retire after that fight. To suggest that the money is ruining these guys, when you’re the guy who has profited off that money, isn’t something that I just want to ignore.”   

The 43-year-old sports journalist again raised a solid argument. In 2021, ‘The Notorious’ was ranked number 01 in Forbes list as the highest paid athlete for $180 million, combining his salary and endorsements. With that amount of wealth, he still chose to enter the Octagon and fought Dustin Poirier twice. So, McGregor definitely had the spark to compete while being a multi-millionaire. 

Helwani raised some strong points criticizing Dana White over his comments on Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov, and the internet quickly followed suit. From a UFC star to the fans, everyone had something to say about the head honcho’s take.

Dana White faces UFC fans’ backlash over recent comments on Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov     

At first, former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling wrote, “I know I’d keep fighting if it meant I’d make a s— ton more money. The pain, suffering, and glory, is all for the back end of things for most high level fighters. Even mid tier still would desire this. S—t all fighters would desire this lol.” Here, ‘Funkmaster’ fired back at White’s comments, reminding the CEO that he would’ve fought more if the money was right, essentially reigniting the fighter-pay debate.

Then a fan called out White for not putting in enough effort to build stronger cards since the UFC was sold, writing, “You know, if Dana hadn’t made as much money as he has, the UFC would be in a much better position. Since it sold in 2016, he really hasn’t given the needed effort.” During the ESPN era, fans have often complained about watered-down cards, and even the UFC 318 PPV came under fire, being labeled more like a Fight Night than a marquee pay-per-view.  

Another user slammed the CEO for judging Khabib by monetary value while ignoring his moral worth, “Dana just sees money, that’s the problem, he’s part of the TKO board which is the biggest club of rich people desperate of being more rich I have ever seen, of course he will not judge Khabib by actual values, the only values he knows about is the money.” That’s a harsh criticism.

Echoing that sentiment, a fan wrote, “Acting like Khabib got outta the sport bc of money is so disrespectful.. he was never motivated by materialistic things. He simply made a promise to his mother he’d stop fighting & he didn’t wanna continue on without his father in his corner,” a point Ariel Helwani also emphasized.

Now, with Dana White drawing the ire of fans over his comments about two of the company’s biggest stars, do you think this will escalate further? Will his relationships with Conor and Khabib change? Comment below.